Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, October 12, 2005

When the Republican from North Carolina fought for the honor of joining the Senate GOP leadership as candidate recruiter in chief, she could not have imagined how tough the job would be.

A year ago, President Bush had just been re-elected by a convincing margin and was boasting about his aggressive second-term agenda. His Republican pals were predicting their party was in the driver's seat in Washington permanently.

What a difference 11 months makes. Dole's reach for partisan glory has turned to dust; she has struck out repeatedly in her efforts to line up strong GOP rivals against Democrats for next year's Senate races, even in states that went big for Bush last year. White House heavy hitter Karl Rove has tried to help out, but he is distracted by his own time-consuming legal problems and hasn't been much use.

Yet the basic problem here is not the recruiter. It is the steady deterioration of the president's credibility and stature and the spreading political climate of party cronyism and corruption. Potential candidates are not stupid; this is not a good time for Republicans to put their careers on the line to defend a bunch of Washington losers.

The arrogant mistakes of our one-party federal government are cascading. Voters are noticing. The chaotic scene on the House floor last week, for instance, was symptomatic of a partisan system that is malfunctioning.

The GOP leadership kept a vote on energy legislation open for 45 minutes -- well beyond the traditional time limit -- in order to twist arms and reverse the outcome. Democrats, in the minority, angrily shouted "shame, shame" but were powerless to stop the travesty.

It was the fifth time in the Bush era the GOP lawmakers defiantly manipulated voting time to swing the outcome their way. In 2003, a three-hour confrontation over the Medicare prescription drug bill raised accusations of outright bribery to change votes.

Bush is enduring the lowest approval ratings of his presidency. In a speech last week he tried once again to tie Iraq to the broader fight against terror. But his words did not wipe out images of soldiers and civilians dying in an unnecessary war.

His eighth visit to the Katrina-devastated Gulf Coast was meant to emphasize humanitarian progress there, but reminded us of the incompetence and budget fights that have characterized the administration's relief efforts.

It's not just potential GOP recruits that are shying away from the Bush team. Incumbents are becoming defiant, too. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa publicly complained recently the White House was trying to kill his measure to pay for poor, uninsured Katrina victims who are not eligible for Medicaid. There are congressional fights about how to handle the president's continued insistence on more tax cuts for the wealthy. Conservative House members have rebelled, calling for spending cuts the president has been reluctant to make.

The excessive outrage of conservatives over the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers says as much about Bush's current weakness as about the right wing's principles. His most ardent sycophants no longer trust him. He has spent years suggesting that he would dump abortion rights. But now, given a chance to act on his promises, Bush is being coy.

Actually, he is being presidential, trying to avoid the bitter Senate confirmation confrontation a certifiable anti-abortion nominee would provoke. But he has pandered to the religious right for his own political ends for years. Their votes put him over the top in '04, so for them it's payback time. Why does he seem surprised?

Across the board, Republicans are in trouble everywhere. Somebody high up in the White House is likely to be indicted for the vicious leak trying to discredit the CIA agent whose husband blew the whistle on Bush's hoaked-up claim about Iraqi efforts to obtain materials for nuclear weapons.

The House majority leader, Tom DeLay, was forced to step down after he was indicted for Texas state election-law violations and is under investigation for all sorts of seamy activities with Republican lobbyists. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is under fire for sales of stock in his family's health care company -- just before the stock tanked.

The New Republic, admittedly not a publication that admires the GOP, lists 15 of what it calls the biggest administration hacks who are unqualified for their posts beyond the fact they are Bush cronies or party loyalists.

"Never before have so many gotten so far with so little," the magazine opines.

No wonder the GOP recruiting race is flailing. This does not mean the Democrats will take back the Senate next year, but it no longer looks impossible.